Where’s Gaddafi?

It looks like Gaddafi’s rule over Libya has ended, after rebel forces captured downtown Tripoli and arrested or killed as many as five of Gaddafi’s sons (including Saif al-Islam, who was speculated to be Gaddafi’s successor is wanted by the International Criminal Court). What remains a mystery, however, is the fate of Gaddafi himself. One news report suggests he fled to Venezuela, another speculates that he’s holding his fort in Tripoli, and yet another assumes that he’s in hiding elsewhere in Libya.

Mohammed Gaddafi, the despot’s oldest son, was captured in a rather dramatic fashion. In the midst of a phone interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, gun fire was suddenly heard in the background and Mohammed indicated that the rebels had just invaded his home before the line abruptly cut off.

Even at this stage, Gaddafi has been as out of touch with reality as he has ever been, issuing several angry audio messages calling on Libya’s tribes to prove that they are not “slaves of colonialism” by marching to Tripoli to defend his rule. President Obama wasn’t quite ready to announce the end of Gaddafi just yet, cautiously saying that we had reached a “tipping point” in Libya and that “Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant.” But while pockets of fighting remain around Tripoli, the celebrations of Gaddafi’s fall are already taking place in Green Square in central Tripoli, where Gaddafi once held rallies of supporters at the beginning of the uprising.

It remains to be seen what direction the Transitional National Council and the rebels will take Libya, but our fingers are crossed for a speedy path towards freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights.